Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Entry List (updated)

Entry lists are out for the Feb. 4 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. There's no separate women's entry list, but last year's 2nd and 3rd-placers Rieko Koshi and Hisae Yoshimatsu are both back and will probably go 1-2. The men's race has a small international contingent of Moroccans Mohamed Reda El Aaraby and Ayoub Dardar, Ethiopians Aychew Bantie and Workneh Derese, and Canadian Ben Preisner, with El Aaraby and Bantie setting up a potential 2:07 race for the Japanese crowd.

Six Japanese men at the 2:07 to 2:08 level who have a realistic view of their chances of hitting the 2:05:50 standard to steal the 3rd spot on the Paris Olympic team in Osaka or Tokyo are on the list for Beppu-Oita, where a good run will earn them a trip to October's Chicago Marathon. Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) and Yuta Koyama (Toenec) are the fastest at 2:07:55 and 2:07:57 in Osaka the last two years, with Yuta Shimoda (GMO) leading the 2:08 quartet in 2:08:00 from Lake Biwa 2021.

Sub-62 half marathoners Yuki Muta (Logisteed) and Kosuke Yamada (Toyota Boshoku) are both set to run their first serious half marathons, but the name that will get all the attention is Aoi Ota, Third Stage runner for 2024 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University. Ota ran the equivalent of a 58:57 half marathon to put AGU into the lead on his 21.4 km leg at Hakone, and here he'll be joined by teammates Kosei Shiraishi and Ninth Stage winner Genta Kuramoto, and AGU alum Hironori Kishimoto (GMO). Ota, Shiraishi and Kuramoto will be looking to follow up on AGU's Shungo Yokota's 2:07:47 collegiate record run for 4th in Beppu-Oita last year.

Update: On Jan. 15 the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon organizers announced that Ota had withdrawn from the race due to not feeling well. On Jan. 22 they added Ryo Hashimoto (Chuo Hatsujo) to the withdrawal list due to an injury.

72nd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Entry List Highlights

Beppu, Oita, 4 Feb. 2024

complete entry list

times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Men

Mohamed Reda El Aaraby (Morocco) - 2:06:55 (Paris 2022)

Hicham Laqouahi (Morocco) - 2:07:02 (Seoul 2023) - added Jan. 16

Aychew Bantie (Ethiopia) - 2:07:19 (Kosice 2022)

Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) - 2:07:55 (Osaka 2022)

Yuta Koyama (Toenec) - 2:07:57 (Osaka 2023)

Yuta Shimoda (GMO) - 2:08:00 (Lake Biwa 2021)

Kazuya Azegami (Toyota) - 2:08:29 (Osaka 2023)

Ryo Osaki (Komori Corp.) - 2:08:30 (Osaka 2023)

Yuichi Yasui (Toyota) - 2:08:48 (Beppu-Oita 2023)

Ryo Hashimoto (Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:09:12 (Beppu-Oita 2022) - scratch on Jan. 22

Reo Kuniyuki (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:09:21 (Hofu 2022)

Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:10:02 (Beppu-Oita 2022)

Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:10:41 (Fukuoka Int'l 2021)

Workneh Derese (Ethiopia/Hiramatsu Byoin) - 2:10:52 (Fukuoka Int'l 2019)

Asuka Tanaka (Runlife) - 2:11:09 (Tokyo 2022)

Ben Preisner (Canada) - 2:11:47 (Eugene World Championships 2022)

Ayoub Dardar (Morocco) - 2:13:38 (Kobe 2023)

Debut / Do-Over

Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 58:57 (Hakone Ekiden 3rd leg 2024) - scratch on Jan. 15

Yuki Muta (Logisteed) - 1:01:10 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Kosuke Yamada (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:01:34 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Kosei Shiraishi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:52 (Setagaya 246 Half 2023) - scratch on Feb. 4

Genta Kuramoto (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:01 (Setagaya 246 Half 2023)

Hironori Kishimoto (GMO) - 27:54.91 (Hachioji Long Distance 2023)

Women

Rieko Koshi (Emoto Juku) - 2:43:07 (Tokyo 2023)

Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:47:51 (Beppu-Oita 2023)

Osaka Marathon Elite Field

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Matsuo Breaks High School Half Marathon Record in 1:02:47

At the 48th Kanagawa Half Marathon at Yokohama's Nissin Olio Group's Isogo Plant, Jinya Ozaki (Teikyo Univ.) outran tough competition from National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University and Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University to take 1st in the men's race in 1:02:04. AGU's Sho Fukutomi was 2nd in 1:02:07, with Komazawa's Rinta Muta 3rd in 1:02:08. High schooler Nichika Maeda (Miura Gakuen H.S.) took the women's race in 1:16:30. But it was another high schooler who made headlines. 3rd-year Koki Matsuo (Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) ran 1:02:47, taking 28 seconds off the fastest half marathon time ever run by a Japanese-born high school student. Last summer Matsuo ran the 5000 m at the National High School Track and Field Championships, and in November he went under 14 minutes for 5000 m, his time of 13:55.07 putting him into the top class of high school running. At last fall's Chiba Prefectural High School Ekiden Matsuo set a new CR of 2...

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